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Shell of the Moment Temporary exhibit of rare, beautiful, or unusual specimens from the Museum research and collection department. |
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The moment has come! The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum has changed its temporary exhibit, “Shell of the Moment,” and is now featuring a world-record size lightning whelk, Busycon sinistrum Hollister, 1958. The gigantic lightning whelk measures 40.2 cm and is cited in the current edition of Registry of World Record Size Shells by Don Pisor. It was collected in 1993 by a scallop boat at a depth of 37 meters off Carrabelle in the Florida Panhandle. The shell was given to The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum by Bev and Al Deynzer of Sanibel. Lightning whelks are common in shallow water throughout the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the southeastern coast of the United States. They are remarkable for having sinistral or left-handed shells (when you hold the shell with the top, or apex, pointing up, the opening, or aperture, is on the left side). The operculum, a trapdoor-like structure that seals the shell shut after the whelk retreats inside, is also on display. Female lightning whelks are far bigger than males and, beginning in spring, lay long strings of egg capsules from which crawl-away babies hatch. Dextral, or right-handed, whelks are rarely found. Lightning whelk feed on clams, most often quahogs (Mercenaria campechiensis and M. mercenaria). As seen on the apical (or top) view of the shell, females start off with a color pattern of light-brown and dark-brown hues and gradually turn paler with growth. In the later growth stages the shell is almost pure white. This whelk probably lived to be more than 20 years of age. |
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